


Will we survive?

by micaurelia



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Accident, Angst, Break Up, F/M, Jealousy, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-01-30 16:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21430954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/micaurelia/pseuds/micaurelia
Summary: This was very unusual behaviour. He was never late. But then again why would she care after what happened the previous evening.
Relationships: Audrey Lim/Neil Melendez
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Good morning or not so good morning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! :)
> 
> Your feedback is deeply appreciated because:
> 
> 1) I am very new at the writing front and this is in fact my first fanfiction ever.  
and  
2) As you can probably tell after reading the first few sentences, English is not my first language.
> 
> So please, I beg you to comment your honest opinion after giving this little piece of work a read.
> 
> Waiting for your response,
> 
> Micaurelia. <:
> 
> PS: I do not own any of the characters.

She made her way up to the elevator, pressing the button firmly. She came in extra early today, because she wanted to talk to him. Knowing that they can not continue with how they left it yesterday or it will definitely affect their work in some way. She knows that he likes to come in early every day, to keep up with paperwork, but also enjoying the quiet of the hospital in the early hours. As she entered the elevator she thought about how to approach him. Innerly ranting herself why she did not think earlier about what to say to him, the *ping* of the elevator disturbed her thoughts. Sighing she left the elevator and headed towards his office. Still thinking about what to say, she did not look up before she stood right before the sign saying 

Dr. Neil Melendez  
Attending Cardiothoracic Surgeon

It was only then that she realized that there were no lights in his office. Somehow this realisation did not get to her brain just yet so she proceeded to push against the door and only then awoke from her thoughts. The door was closed. „That is weird.“ she mumbled to herself so no one could hear.  
„He is not here yet.“ said a voice behind her. She was again in her thoughts and did not even turn around to see whom the voice belonged to. The nurse behind her waited for a response, but realised that she propably would not get one. She turned to leave not without whispering something under her breath how doctors could at least pretend to see the nurses and acknowledge their existence. 

She still stood in front of the glass walls surrounding Melendez´ office, staring into the emptiness of the room.  
„Good morning Dr. Lim.“ Another voice approached her and it took him several minutes to get the attention from her. Which also only happened when he snapped his fingers in front of her face and waved at her.  
„Morning Dr. Glassman.“ she mumbled at least. „Did-did Neil take a day off?“ she finally asked with a normal loud voice.  
„Not that I knew. And shouldn´t you know? As in, you know, living with him in the same household?“ he asked surprised.  
„Yeah sure. I mean... normally I would.“ she laughed nervously „I did not go home last night. Spend the night with a friend who I hadn´t seen in a while. We got a little too busy with the alcohol so I stayed at her place. I came here directly, did not have time to go home before shift started.“ she tried to explain. She knew that her explanation probably sounded pretentious, she didn´t even believe it herself, but there was no need just now for Dr. Glassman to know about their break up. As she saw an understanding smile on his face she thought maybe the explanantion was not so bad after all and he believed her. She gave him a relieved smile.

Dr. Glassman did not believe a word his colleague said, but he thought it was not his job to investigate into the private lifes of his attending surgeouns.  
„I see.“ he said with an reassuring smile. „Well I mean he still has some time left until the shift starts, Ím sure he will be here any minute.“  
„Yes, he probably will be. See you later.“ She answered with a smile that definitley did not reach her eyes, turned and left.  
„See you.“ Dr. Glassman mumbled behind her, still a little confused about the behaviour of his subordinate. But Dr. Lim could not hear him as she was yet out of earshot. Again lost in her thoughts she took the route back to the elevator like a robot and pressed the button. While she was waiting for it to arrive she thought about the wherabouts of M elendez. Maybe he took a day off although that did not seem very likely since he is not at all somebody who lets his personal life interfere with his work. Maybe he was just late today to avoid meeting her and having a conversation. Also not very likely since he is not somebody who would avoid confrontation. Not out of pure lust for a fight, but rather the need of getting things out in the open. She entered the elevator once again this day, pressing the button for the first floor since she will be covering the ER today. Some of the people who were in the elevator yet greeted her good morning but were left without a response as the nurse earlier that day. Shaking their heads they just continued with their conversation. When she left the elevator in the first floor she got out her phone, scrolled down the contacts and stopped at M. As her finger circled above his name she realised how ridiculous it would be to actually call him. So he was not 20 minutes early for his shift and she overthought it. Maybe he was just stuck in traffic or decided to come in later today. There was definitely no need to worry. Just now at least. Okay, it was a bit unusual but not something that required a needy phone call. She left her finger hovering above his name for another two maybe five seconds and then decided to call it quits. Man she should really get her mind into work modus. She slipped her phone into her pocket, put on her usual self confidential smile and proceeded to walk to the ER. In the ER she was met by Dr. Browne and Dr. Park who would assist her today. She greeted them good morning and talked with them about their tasks for the upcoming day. Soon she was engulfed into the busy work of the ER and did not think about Melendez twice.


	2. Ms. Fredericks

It was during a rather calm phase after working the ER for like 90 minutes that she had to think about him again. Mostly because Dr. Andrews approached her with Drs. Murphy and Ruzneck right behind him. Which was weird since they were suppossed to work with Neil that day. Curious she glanced up at the trio as they walked towards her. She could feel the views of Dr. Browne and Dr. Park on her back, both equally confused about the rush of the three doctors entering the ER.  
„Hello Dr. Lim. Can you tell me why my second attending did not show up for work today?“ asked Dr. Andrews coming to an halt right before her.  
„Neil did not arrive to work today?“ she asked, worry building slowly up inside of her.  
„Dr. Melendez did not show up today. Dr. Andrews said to ask you since you are in a relationship with him. That is why we are here with him.“ Shaun said in his typical monotone but slightly euphoric voice. Morgan shot him an annoyed look.  
„I am sorry but I did not see him today.“ she answered looking at Dr. Andrews.  
Morgan raised her eyebrows. „Why is that? I thought you two lived together?“  
„The reasons for that are not your concernings.“ Audrey said towards her, before turning to Andrews again. „Did you try calling him?“  
„I have. Twice actually. He has not been picking up.“ He answered, also slightly confused why she hasn´t been with Melendez that day. „See I understand when someone needs a break. Everyone does from time to time. But I think you agree with me that it is not in Dr. Melendez´nature to be absent without calling in.“ Dr. Lim simply nodded, again thinking about what the hell was wrong with Neil. This whole situation made absolute no sense. As she looked up again, meeting Andrewś eyes she startled under his intense gaze.  
„What do you want me to do?“ she asked in a rather helpless tone because in that moment she really did not know what to do next. She thought it was rather weird calling him and checking up on him regarding their conversation the previous evening. But obviously her colleagues did not know about that and also she had to admit that she was actually worried.  
„I suggest you try to get a hold onto him. Until then I will be attending Drs. Murphy and Ruzneck. When you reach him you can also tell him to better have a very good explanation for his absence.“ Again she just simply nodded watching the trio turn and walk away again. She stared after them, continuing to stare into the distance even when they were already gone.

She was startled once again by a voice interrupting the hurricane of thoughts inside her head.  
„You want to drive to your apartment and make sure everythings alright?“ Claire asked as she was stepping up to Audrey without her realising.  
„Ehm no. I will try calling him again. Be right back.“ she simply said and went towards the exit. Claire glared after her, thinking that Dr. Lim was definitley acting weird today. She seemed to have a lot going on in her head and was slightly distressed. Also she knew that Melendez would not stay away from work without a very good reason and she thought it was weird that Lim did not know about the reason. She shook her head and returned to her patient who has been starting to complain about the absence of attention he got.

Meanwhile Dr. Lim stood outside the hospital glancing up it´s huge walls and feeling the wave of gratefulness washing over her being allowed to work in a profession that made so many peoples life better and that she has been dreaming of for so long. It has been hard, of course, working her way up to the position she was in now. But now she had a life that fulfilled her and made her happy every single day. Would´nt there be the worries about her former boyfriend. Sighing she took out her phone, scrolled down the contacts to his name as she had done before but this time actualling pressing the call button. She put the phone up to her ear and listened to the line connecting. It rang a couple of times and then proceeded to the voice mail. Looking at her phone, she disconnected the call and worry started crawling up on her. Her first thought was that his phone maybe died so he was not able to answer it, but then again she realised that it would not ring in that situation. She then decided to call one of his neighbours. An elderly woman who she met a couple of times and who was pretty friendly maybe a little bit to sneaky in her taste. But that was also the reason why she maybe knew what was going on with Neil. Again she put the phone up to her ear and heard the line connecting. After a few rings and Lim almost deciding to hang up again she heard the shrill voice of a woman.  
„Hello?“  
„Hello Ms. Frederick, it´s Audrey Lim. You remember me?“  
„Oh hello dear. I sure do, I am not that old.“ Lim smiled about the piqued tone of the elderly. The woman was in her 90s but sure not that old. Before she was able to ask about Neil the woman continued.  
„Is everything alight dear? I heard some loud noises out of your apartement yesterday? Sounded like a huge fight and something did break?“ Lim closed her eyes remembering the events of the previous evening. They did argue but she did not expect it to be so loud for the neighbours to hear. And the breaking that Ms. Frederick heard? That was the thing she regretted the most about the happenings of that day. She was indeed very angry at Neil but she was definitley not somebody who got violent easily. Still the mug somehow proceeded to fly out of her hand and against the head of Neil leaving a rather nasty wound on his forehead that started bleeding immediatley. In that moment they both looked shocked at each other and did not say a word. Neil put a hand up to the wound and then stared at it realising it was covered with blood. Because she did not know better Audrey then proceeded to turn and ran out of the apartement, ending up at a friends house. That was the only true thing she told Dr. Glassman earlier that day.   
„Are you still there dear?“ The voice of Ms. Frederick brought her back into the present.  
„Ehm yes I am. Sorry.“ She then proceeded to ask her question without answering the one from Ms. Frederick. „Actually the reason why I am calling is that I wanted to ask you if you have seen Neil today?“  
„Oh yes I have. He left his apartement at the same time as always. Going to work I assume. He is a doctor isn´t he? Such a noble profession. He actually helped me a couple of times when I did not feel very well. He is such a nice guy I understand why you are with him. And so good looking, just the perfect guy. He reminds me a bit of my late husband who unfortunately left us a couple years ago. But I dońt want to bore you with the old stories. Why are you even calling? Don´t you two work in the same hospital?“ the woman then asked curiously.  
„Ehm yes we do actually. I just have not seen him yet but you know such a hospital is pretty huge, lots of rooms. I am sure he is here somewhere. Thank you for you help.“  
„Oh no problem dear. You know..“  
But Audrey hung up before the other woma could continue. Sure it wasn´t the nicest thing to do but the answer of the old woman just left her more confused. She slipped her phone back into her pocket and then walked rather fast to the employees parking space. She had to made sure that Neil really wasn´t here and yes sure enough his car wasn´t parked in its usual spot. He really did not arrive at the hospital. Now she was really worried. Out of frustration she dialed his number once again although not confident he would answer. So she was very surprised when a female voice answered his phone.


	3. The elk

„Hello?“ Audrey was not prepared for someone to actually answer the phone, so she did not say anything at first.  
„Hello? Here is...“ But she could not hear what the other woman was saying because she hung up again as fast as possible. Staring at her phone she could not believe it. She has heard this female voice and some kind of rumbling in the background. There was only one explanation for that. She could not believe it. They seperated yesterday and he had nothing better to do than meeting with a new woman. Only a couple of hours later. He was such an asshole and she instantly felt no regret anymore towards her actions yesterday. It was exactly the reason for their fight and break up. She knew that he was a very attractive man and received a lot of offers from other women. Although she thought he would be loyal anyway because he loved her and what they had. But she was so wrong. She clearly saw him at the hospital earlier the day before flirting with one of the nurses. He later said to her that he was just being friendly and that she had nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about. Ha. He really thought that she was stupid enough to believe that. She bet that he was with exacty thst nurse now. She was so furious. She shoved the phone back into her pocket and walked into the hospital again. It took her awhile to find Dr. Andrews but eventually she saw him with Shaun and Morgan in a patients room. Although she was so angry and just wanted to forget about Neil she still waited outside of the patients room respectively signing to Dr. Andrews to come see her. She saw him excusing himself from the patient and leaving the room.  
„I hope you are telling me that you got hold of Dr. Melendez?“  
„I sure did.“ Lim answered with a pained laugh. „He has some apparently very important business to take care of today and won´t come in as far as I am concerned. I am going back to the ER if you need me.“ Without awaiting a response from Andrews she proceeded to almost run back to the ER. Dr. Andrews was taken aback by her appearance and also did not really understand what she meant by Melendez having to take care of business. He decided to go after her and catched her again in the ER. She stood at one of the nurses` desks and was looking at a chart. He could see her trembling and was almost at her side when he heard an emergency being rushed in by the paramedics.  
„40 year old male, was in a car accident, possibly broken femur, also there seems to be a fracture at the collarbone, another on his right hand, maybe internal bleeding, several bruises, hehas been uncoucious for the entire ride. We gave him ...“ A female paramedic shouted.  
Dr. Andrews stared at the gurney being pushed past him, recognicing the dark hair immediately. The moment he was 100 percent sure who the patients was was when he saw a blood covered antler peeking out of the man´s shirt.

He met the eyes of Dr. Browne and Dr. Park who both looked after the gurney as shocked as he felt. They then proceeded to turn their glances towards Dr. Lim. As she felt their eyes on her and saw Andrews standing in the middle of the ER she raised her voice, apparently completely unaware of what just happened.  
„Dr. Lim..“ Andrews started but was being interrupted immediatley.  
„Look I have patients Dr. Andrews and no time to care about the whereabouts of Dr. Melendez. If you excuse me I have work to do.“ She then went towards the area where Melendez´ has been shoved into a couple seconds earlier.  
„Dr. Lim!“ Andrews then raised his voice walking after her and being followed by Dr. Browne and Dr. Park. But Audrey did not turn. Instead she stood in front of the gurney and realised for the first time who the patient was. To say she was shocked was clearly an undertatement. She looked at the man she used to love so dearly and did barelely recognize him. He was covered in blood, his shirt was ripped open and at his leg she could see a bone peeking out. She turned her glance upwards and saw the elk tattoo. In that moment she was in her own word, remembering a conversation she had with him a couple of weeks ago.

*flashback*

They were lying in bed. She had her head on his chest and was moving her fingers along it stopping at the tattoo. She followed the lines of the elk with her finger.  
„You know you never really told me the background of this.“ She said nodding towards the elk.  
„I think it is a good thing to actually keep some things a mystery. In that way we can still learn new things about each other every once in a while.“ he said grinning.  
„Oh come on how much of a mystery can an elk tattoo be.“ she said rolling her eyes.  
„Well you are probably right. Also I still have enough secrets to keep from you.“ he said teasing her, but then continued: „As you know I come from a very poor family. We did not have a lot of money and it was always really tight at the end of the month. As you also know my parents could not pay for the care my sister needed when she had her accident and was left with a disabilty which is why I had to care for her. That was also the time when I realised that I wanted to become a doctor. You know help people, prevent them maybe from becoming dependant on somebody. When I finished my medicine study and became resident I realised it was everything I dreamed of and more. Unfortunateley I had´nt had the best attendant. He treated us all like shit. He was not at all fond of his job and of passing his knowledge to a new generation. He was an incredible doctor though. Always respectful to the patients and he showed them a kindness no one else would ever see. And he was so intelligent and never afraid to do whats best for the patient. But as a human being he was a catastrophe. He knew that he was the best and he acted like it. So after many years of being his resident and finally becoming an attendant myself I thought about how I wanted to act in this position. I knew that I had to be a leader and not always could treat my surrogates as friends, but I also did not want to be an ass. And to remind myself of that every day I thought about getting a tattoo of an elk. Because you know the elk stands for a powerful leadership without losing contact to the bottom and the path you went. He does not need to use violence to get what he wants, he knows that he is good in what he does and thats enough for him. He doesn´t need to show his power to everyone, he knows that it is there and that fulfills him. I read about the symbolic of the elk once in an article and I thought it summarised perfecly how I wanted to get this job done. And as a daily reminder I got the tattoo. That´s the mystery behind the antler that everyone wants to know so desperately about.“ he finished. Audrey lifted her head up and looked him in the eye. She could see the pain but also the pride in his eyes and she could not help herself but kissed him passionetely. As they drew apart again he asked what that was for.  
„I wanted to thank you for sharing that story with me.“ she said and leaned in for another passonate kiss.

*flashback over*

And know he was lying there in front of her and the elk was barely visible because of all the blood that covered his chest.


	4. Tears

From a distance she could hear a voice repeatedly saying her name, but it took her a while to actually arrive back in the real world. It was Andrews who kept saying her name and as she raised her glance she could see Browne and Park also standing next to the gurney. Dr. Andrews said something about another doctor being on his way because she could clearly not treat Melendez as a patient. But she was definitely not letting another doctor touch him and insisted on treating him herself. At that moment Dr. Glassman arrived together with Dr. Mailin who were apparently supposed to take over the case. She saw red when she saw him. Started crying and shouting that she would not leave him to another doctor. She could tell that all eyes were on her but she did not care. Finally Dr. Glassman pulled her into a hug and tried to talk some sense into her. Why she could not perform surgery on her own boyfriend etc.  
„But he is not my boyfriend. We split up yesterday. Please I want to be his doctor.“ The others looked at each other surprised since no one knew about the breakup of the two attentands. But it was obvious that even though they may or may not be in a relatioship anymore they were good friends and have been for a very long time. So there was no way she could be his doctor. Dr. Mailin started examine Melendez and finally shoved his bed with the help of some nurses in the direction of the OR. Lim could only stare after them disbelieving. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the two paramedics who brought Neil in finishing up some paperwork at one of the nurses desks. She went up to the female paramedic.  
„Excuse me. Is it possible that you answered his phone earlier?“ she asked the woman, having regained her normal speaking voice but there were still tears running down her cheeks. The paramedic looked at her with compassion in her eyes.  
„I did. We do answer phones from time to time when they are near our patients and ring to get some information or inform relatives of something that happened.“ Audrey nodded and hated herself for assuming that Neil was with a new woman instead of at work. She felt so stupid.  
„Thank you. C-can you tell me anything about what happened?“  
„I am afraid we cannot tell you.“ At that moment two police officers entered the ER. „But I guess these two can. Maybe you ask them and they can tell you some details.“ Lim simlpy nodded, still trying to process everything that happened in the past couple minutes. She went over to the police officers who were talking to a nurse.  
„Excuse me. Are you here because of the car accident?“ she asked the officers.  
„Yes we are Doctor. We wanted to get information on the victim.“ one of them answered. He was a tall, blonde guy who did not seem very old. Lim assumed he got just of the training and this was his first official case.  
„I can´t tell you much about the condition of the...the victim.“ It was hard for her to say the word victim out loud. „But I am his girlfriend. We both work here at the hospital and I was hoping you could give me some information about what happened?“  
„We actually would rather discuss that with close family.“ the tall blonde guy answered again. What was the other guy there for?  
„Well I am afraid I am all he got. His parents both passed away a couple of years ago. He has a little sister but she is mentally disabled since her childhood. So..“   
„If that is the case I guess we should talk to you then.“ again the tall blonde guy. „We are investigating because of DUI.“


End file.
